A Conservative MP who chairs Parliament’s group on dentistry saw his own dental practice fail its safety inspection.
Sir Paul Beresford, chair of the APPG for Dentistry and Oral Health, runs his own private dental practice, Beresford Dental Practice Ltd, in Wandsworth, South West London.
He is listed on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website as the registered manager responsible for the “treatment of disease, disorder or injury,” “surgical procedures,” and “diagnostic and screening procedures.”
But after the CQC inspected his practice last November, officials ruled his practice was "not providing safe care".
The report published in January 2022 said: “We found this practice was not providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.”
“We found this practice was not providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations,” it added.
CQC officials went on to specifically criticise Sir Paul's leadership of the practice: “The provider did not demonstrate that there were effective systems for leadership and management including oversight, assessment and mitigation of risks and implementation of systems to monitor and improve the service.”
Feryal Clark, Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Patient Safety, said: “With the cost-of-living crisis really starting to bite and working people braced for tax rises, this will cause yet another toothache for the Tories.
“After his own dental practice failed a safety inspection, Beresford’s role as Chair of the parliamentary group on dentistry is hard to swallow.”
After the dancing report, the CQC urged the practice to take several steps to meet regulatory requirements as part of “enforcement action”.
Mr Beresford has claimed the CQC have since given his practice a clean bill of health. He told the Mirror his practice only failed "technically" and insisted last Wednesday the CQC revisited his practice and deemed it safe.
"They are writing the report up now. It will take some time," he said.
The updated report Sir Paul refers to, is yet to be published and has not been acknowledged by the CQC.
Other problems highlighted by the CQC included:
- There were no assurances that the X-ray equipment was tested and checked in accordance with current national regulations and guidance.
- Provider had not registered with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and had not appointed a Radiation Protection Advisor (RPA) or a Radiation Protection Supervisor.
- There was no legionella risk assessment in place.
- There was no general practice risk assessment.
Sir Paul often cites his expertise when praising the Government's work towards dentistry issues.
In a debate last year, he chastised Labour MP Mohamed Yasin for raising issues with emergency dentistry in the UK, saying: “His speech was a barrage of negativity, and it is not all negativity in this field,” adding “I am a practising dentist.”
Sir Paul hit the headlines in 2009 when it was revealed he had designated his London property, which includes his surgery, as his second home on his parliamentary allowances, claiming a proportion of the running costs of the building on expenses.
